Conventional vehicle braking systems include hydraulic and electric systems. Each system provides different performance characteristics. Generally speaking, hydraulic systems are more widely implemented and are less complex, less expensive braking systems. There are contemporary hydraulic systems that are supplemented with electronic components to provide anti-lock braking and traction control.
Some vehicles, e.g., “muscle cars,” manipulate a vehicle's braking system to improve tire traction at vehicle launch. To ensure maximum tire grip at take-off, a driver can conduct a “burn-out” in a water box to heat up the rear tires just prior to launch. With many conventional vehicles, in order to conduct a controlled burnout, a driver needs to manipulate the service brake system to allow the rear wheels to spin freely while the front brakes are applied. In some cases, the burn-out is achieved by the driver manipulating the throttle, brake and clutch. This is not a user-friendly delivery system as it requires the driver to synchronize inputting various commands into the vehicle simultaneously. Moreover, if the vehicle is not in the best condition for burn-out, e.g., the wheels are slightly turned, it can be difficult for the driver to detect this.
Alternatively, a vehicle owner can install an aftermarket system that will allow the driver to keep the front brakes applied while the rear brakes are released; after the driver releases the brake pedal a much more controlled burn-out can be accomplished. Such aftermarket systems are inferior to a system incorporated with the original vehicle equipment for various reasons. For example, aftermarket systems can have reliability issues, are usually purely mechanical systems having no electric or automated controls which can also be less user-friendly, they are not repeatable and they do not perform real-time vehicle monitoring of pre-determined critical inputs that can increase the performance of the braking system before, during and/or after burn-out.
There are completely electric braking systems that can be incorporated into the vehicle which control the distribution of power between the front and rear braking systems. For example, U.S. Patent Application No. 2008/0015761 titled “Electric Braking Device for Vehicles” discloses a purely electric braking system that includes an on-board computer and control module which controls the power supply to the braking modules. Since this system utilizes electric brakes the system is more complex and more expensive than systems having hydraulic brakes. Moreover, the control logic disclosed in the '761 Application is not tailored to a line-locking function but is tailored toward mitigating detected degradations in the operating modes of the brakes to reduce the overall power consumption of a vehicle. The disclosed braking device would not accommodate a vehicle line-locking braking system.
Therefore, it is desirable to have a method of line-locking a hydraulic vehicle braking system and a braking system for accomplishing the same that is more user-friendly. It is further desirable to have a system that performs preliminary system checks and real-time monitoring of critical vehicle inputs to improve vehicle performance before, during and/or after burn-out. A feature is needed that will utilize the original vehicle equipment to provide a burn-out feature that is controlled and repeatable for the driver without the need of adding any additional content.